I inherited my dad's oily skin which apparently keeps me looking about 10 years younger than I really am. The down side is dandruff. I am talking not just scales but chunks of skin that you can dig up just by dragging your nails across your scalp. Dandruff that laughs a pyrithrine zinc. Tea Tree Oil Shampoo is a joke. My dandruff pimp slaps that stuff back into the bottle! Coal tar and selenium sulfide seem to do best. Nizoral did really good but it is expensive. I tried the Nizoral make in Thailand and it was great but that supply has apparently dried up.

Any ideas? I wear a "high and tight" and to think of not shapooing is gross in my book.
Alan

I have the same skin type. I find that washing with Nizoral Monday and Friday, and using a shampoo free from any oils and SLS/SLES (I use Organix Sea Mineral Moisture) on the other days helps to keep my scalp happy. At least happy enough to not start scaling and flaking.

I wish I had better news for you, but there was only one solution that I found for mine. The more I shampooed my hair the worse my dandruff got. That was the key to me understanding how to control it. But research on the 'net really told me what to do.

I don't know what a "high and tight" is, but I buzz cut my hair and use nothing but water on my hair and scalp to "wash" it. I once had dandruff and no longer do.

You hit the nail right on the head with what you wrote about oil. By washing it out with shampoos the skin gets the message to make more. So you're in a loop. You wash out the oils and the skin is told, "Hey, no oil here, better flood the scalp!". Now that wouldn't ordinarily be a problem, but you have dandruff which is caused by a fungus that feeds on naturally produced oil. Are you beginning to see where this is going? Stop the oily scalp and the fungus will leave and so will the dandruff. The problem is the shampoo that is stripping your scalp of oil. Remove that from the equation and everything else will fall into place.

I have very short hair, so for me this wasn't difficult. I shampoo my hair, but only with water and a scalp brush. When I shower I flood the scalp and go to it with the brush. I once had dandruff and no longer do. After about a month your scalp will get the message that the huge quantity of oil is no longer required and it will back off on producing it. If you need a technological solution I can't help with that and frankly there isn't one. I would have suggested a pine tar soap as that messes with the fungus that causes the dandruff. But breaking the loop that you're in should work. But it takes time. Your problem didn't happen overnight and neither will the solution.

Not sure how thick your hair is but try washing with a brush. Scrubbing your scalp with it will help to remove the dandruff that your fingers can't. Just use a soft bristle brush every shower and scrub entire scalp in a circular motion. Do not use dandruff shampoos. One of the ingredients is actually helping cause it due to its skin drying effects.

Hey, ShadowsDad, how bad is the hair oil on your pillow, car headrest, easy chair,etc. since you quite shampooing.I mark everything my head touches. Recently stayed at a Microtel and I sat up in bed and read. Some Microtels have the entire wall mirrored to make the tiny room feel bigger. The next morning, my youngest say "ewwwwwww daddy, you greased the mirror with your head".
Alan

Billium, I just use water and the scalp brush under the shower head. I also have very short hair. But I learned the technique from a woman with long hair on the 'net. My hair doesn't smell of anything other than ShadowsDad, but that isn't bad- no dog odor here except on Shadow.

Bustedup, my hair is no longer oily and hasn't been for years; for as long as I've been using water only. Shortly after starting (about a month) I noticed that the dandruff was gone and I had normal sloughing of the dead skin, but not in flakes, in very small pieces that can't be seen. That is, normal skin cell sloughing. You may go through a period of transition and frankly I have no idea what you'll go through. But hair can be washed with only water. I wish I had more info' for you, but I don't. By not stripping the hair and scalp of oil my oil ducts have calmed down and no longer flood my head to feed the fungus that made the dandruff. Will it work for you? I have no idea. But you've tried everything else right? I did too and searched for a solution. You couldn't tempt me to use any soap or shampoo on my hair and scalp today. Basically, the water only technique allows the skin to do what it wants to do, and that is to come into equilibrium.

I don't merely rinse my hair under the shower, I let it stream over my head while the scalp brush massages my scalp and removes dead skin. It takes a few minutes at least, and water being the universal solvent removes excess oil but doesn't strip the hair and scalp. Eventually the oil ducts get the word that they can calm down.

I have great results believe it is not by treating my scalp with coconut oil for 30 minutes before washing, and then using a mild shampoo. Also rinsing with cool to cold water seems to make a huge difference.
Best of luck.

Yeah, stay away from SLS. Steer clear of the chemical approach, they will make it worse in the long term. Stop washing your hair so often. I have not actually "washed" my hair in a couple of years, but it's rinsed through every time I shower. Use either coconut or almond oil. Seborrheic dermatitis can be a bitch to beat but that's exactly what I did, almost overnight too.

Have you considered a organic neem shampoo such as Organix South Theraneem or A'laffia scalp recovery...both work wonders! Its cant hurt. Also Zeal has a no SLS, etc but it has zinc pyrithone. I think their site is www.noflakes.com

(08-31-2015, 08:52 AM)Bustedup Wrote: I inherited my dad's oily skin which apparently keeps me looking about 10 years younger than I really am. The down side is dandruff. I am talking not just scales but chunks of skin that you can dig up just by dragging your nails across your scalp. Dandruff that laughs a pyrithrine zinc. Tea Tree Oil Shampoo is a joke. My dandruff pimp slaps that stuff back into the bottle! Coal tar and selenium sulfide seem to do best. Nizoral did really good but it is expensive. I tried the Nizoral make in Thailand and it was great but that supply has apparently dried up.

Any ideas? I wear a "high and tight" and to think of not shampooing is gross in my book.

(08-31-2015, 08:52 AM)Bustedup Wrote: I inherited my dad's oily skin which apparently keeps me looking about 10 years younger than I really am. The down side is dandruff. I am talking not just scales but chunks of skin that you can dig up just by dragging your nails across your scalp. Dandruff that laughs a pyrithrine zinc. Tea Tree Oil Shampoo is a joke. My dandruff pimp slaps that stuff back into the bottle! Coal tar and selenium sulfide seem to do best. Nizoral did really good but it is expensive. I tried the Nizoral make in Thailand and it was great but that supply has apparently dried up.

Any ideas? I wear a "high and tight" and to think of not shapooing is gross in my book.
Alan

I've used Tar shampoo for years. Walgreen's, Walmart, and most places carry it. I use whatever generic I can find. It's really cheap. It's essentially cured my dandruff. It's also good for my diagnosed psoriasis... which I don't really suffer from anymore either. They also have tar bath soap which is also cheap but not as easy to find around here.

(08-31-2015, 01:19 PM)ShadowsDad Wrote: I wish I had better news for you, but there was only one solution that I found for mine. The more I shampooed my hair the worse my dandruff got. That was the key to me understanding how to control it. But research on the 'net really told me what to do.

I don't know what a "high and tight" is, but I buzz cut my hair and use nothing but water on my hair and scalp to "wash" it. I once had dandruff and no longer do.

You hit the nail right on the head with what you wrote about oil. By washing it out with shampoos the skin gets the message to make more. So you're in a loop. You wash out the oils and the skin is told, "Hey, no oil here, better flood the scalp!". Now that wouldn't ordinarily be a problem, but you have dandruff which is caused by a fungus that feeds on naturally produced oil. Are you beginning to see where this is going? Stop the oily scalp and the fungus will leave and so will the dandruff. The problem is the shampoo that is stripping your scalp of oil. Remove that from the equation and everything else will fall into place.

I have very short hair, so for me this wasn't difficult. I shampoo my hair, but only with water and a scalp brush. When I shower I flood the scalp and go to it with the brush. I once had dandruff and no longer do. After about a month your scalp will get the message that the huge quantity of oil is no longer required and it will back off on producing it. If you need a technological solution I can't help with that and frankly there isn't one. I would have suggested a pine tar soap as that messes with the fungus that causes the dandruff. But breaking the loop that you're in should work. But it takes time. Your problem didn't happen overnight and neither will the solution.

Yes, I concur. Haven't used hair product of any kind for over thirty years now. Hair is clean, healthy, shiny and not a trace of flaking. Until I stopped trying to wash it with soaps, etc, I had BAD dandruff. The solution above will probably work, in time, but only if you don't have a fungal complaint you're dealing with.